


27

by Lint



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: F/M, Timeline 27
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-06 14:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18390263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lint/pseuds/Lint
Summary: “And one day, you just what? Crossed the line into something else?”





	1. Suspicion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnnCherie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnCherie/gifts).



> My friend Ann and I were talking about a timeline where Q and J would be a thing, and this is what came out of it.

 

 

“I'm telling you,” Margo insists, hands on her hips, and staring up at the TADA sign on the opposite wall. “There's something there.”

 

Julia sits on the floor in front of the couch, combing through a book on pyromancy, smirking that the subject coincides with her ears suddenly burning. Instinct telling that though she has not been mentioned by name, the subject of Margo's statement is obviously her. Though only separated by a shelf lined with cocktail glasses, neither one of them seem to notice she's there.

 

“Something where,” comes Eliot's noncommittal reply, bottles clinking in hand, as he experiments with new concoctions for the upcoming party this weekend.

 

“Quentin,” she pushes. “Julia. You know, whatever thing they have going on.”

 

Eliot takes a loud sip of whatever he's made, swishing it out around like mouthwash, before a disgusted groan escapes his throat.

 

“No, no, no,” he dismisses, shifting more bottles around. “That won't do.”

 

Margo huffs audibly.

 

“Are you even listening to me?”

 

More booze gets poured into the mixer, as Elliot lifts to shake not stir.

 

“Of course, Bambi,” he placates. “They're best friends. Like us.”  


The drink is poured into another glass, which must be offered up to Margo, because she mumbles 'uh uh' just loud enough for Julia to hear.

 

“No El,” she assures. “It's deeper than that.”

 

Eliot scoffs with dramatic shock.

 

“Deeper than our connection? You dare?”

 

Julia turns the page she's been holding between her fingers for nearly a minute, having not bothered to read it, and most likely won't read the next one as well. Eliot smacks his tongue with the latest mix, exuding a tone of delight.

 

“Yes, this one. Mark it down.”

 

“Mark what down?”

 

“You haven't been taking notes?”

 

“Does it look like I've been taking notes?”

 

“Fine,” he sighs. “I'll just have to remember. Moving on.”

 

Julia doesn't dare to turn her head, having not been noticed still, wondering if the subject will be dropped after the conversation derailed. It's not, when Margo continues on.

 

“I'm telling you, they're inseparable.”

 

“That's not true,” Eliot counters. “They're currently separated as we speak.”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

More bottles clinking. More liquid poured.

 

“I assure you, I don't. Besides, shouldn't you be more focused on your own love life?” he questions. “A certain bespectacled magician you would love to have loosen up both metaphoric and literal?”

 

Margo clucks her tongue.

 

“Look, all I'm saying is that if someone's panties are in such a twist, it's gotta be worth it when you get into them. And stop changing the subject.”

 

“Heaven forbid,” he teases, swiftly stirring his latest mix.

 

The door opens then, and Julia doesn't even have to look, knowing it's Quentin. Confirmed when he's greeted enthusiastically by the pair, shouting his name, and practically forcing a drink into his hand.

 

“Strong,” is the only comment he gives, voice sounding strained.

 

He must spot her through the wall, because footsteps make way toward her, and she looks up to welcome him with a smile.

 

“Oh shit,” curses Margo from behind. Realizing in that moment that Julia was present for her entire thought process into she and Quentin's relationship.

 

“Hey,” he greets, after shooting Margo a furrowed look.

 

“Hey,” she echoes.

 

Pulling the messenger bag from his shoulder, he drops it on the couch, and moves to sit next to Julia on the floor. It feels impulsive, however premeditated her action, leaning over to give him a big comical smooch. He's puzzled but amused, when she leans back, reaching up to tuck some hair behind his ear.

 

“I fucking knew it!” Margo exclaims.

 

-

 

Julia slips through the door as quietly as she can, rubbing sleep from her eyes, and gets exactly two steps into the hall before running into someone despite the late hour. Jumping back, her eyes strain against the dark, but has a good feeling who it is.

 

“Penny?” she asks.

 

He lets the silence linger a beat or two longer than necessary.

 

“So it's not just him,” he replies enigmatically.

 

“I'm sorry?”

 

“Your boy,” he goes on, thumb jerking toward the door. “Is like a goddamn radio transmitter most of the day, and your name comes up about as often as those stupid books he likes. But I thought he was just another loser stuck in the friend zone.”

 

His eyes dart down to her bare legs, and Julia remembers then that the only thing she's wearing is one of Q's shirts, slipped on because it's the first item of clothing she found when rising from the bed. He's quiet again, but Julia isn't sure of her part in keeping the conversation going.

 

“Well he's not,” she gives.

 

Even though her eyes have adjusted, she can't seem to get a grasp on the look he gives her.

 

“What?”

 

“Don't you know you can do better?” he asks. “I mean, a lot better?”

 

Julia crosses her arms and frowns.

 

“Wow,” she deadpans. “We've known each other for barely over a month, and you already feel comfortable judging my love life?”

 

“I didn't mean-”

 

“Yes, you did. And fine, whatever, another man's opinion I never asked for. But I have to wonder, what makes you a winner?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You called him a loser,” she reminds him. “Not for the first time, by the way. But what exactly are you winning, that he's losing?”

 

Penny looks at the door to Quentin's room a moment.

 

“I don't know,” he admits. “Life? Some guys are just-”

 

“Life,” she repeats, cutting him off. “Last I checked, he goes to the same school you do. Lives in the same house you do. Has a girl sleeping in his bed almost every night like you do.”

 

Penny's head tilts at her.

 

“Yeah, I know about Kady. Everyone knows about Kady.”

 

“It's not a secret. Unlike-”

 

“Unlike what?”

 

“You and some nerd obsessed with kids books,” he shoots back. “Sneaking around the house, like no one is supposed to know.”

 

Julia groans in frustration.

 

“The fact the you, and anyone else in this house, couldn't see it because the possibility never entered your minds? Sounds more like your problem than ours. And those kids books you're always making fun of? How do you think he got obsessed with them in the first place?”

 

Penny's lip curls into a slight smile.

 

“Look, I get it. You got that whole bad ass loner thing going on. Which is fine. You do you. But one day you just might care about someone enough to let them see you. The real you. Day in and out, without fear of judgment, or punishment for mistakes. To see them at their worst, and love them anyway because you'll know without a doubt in your mind, they feel the same for you.”

 

Silent again, but she knows this time, it's because he just doesn't know how to respond to that.

 

“Okay, good talk.” Julia says, moving to pass him. “Now excuse me, it's the middle of the night, and I really have to pee.”

 

-

 

“You know,” Julia begins, setting the book in hand atop the table, then pushing it away. “My brain might actually be full.”

 

Alice looks up from her own book, brow arched at the statement.

 

“I'm kidding,” Julia assures.

 

“No,” Alice replies with a shake of her head. “I know. You just... I don't think I've seen you put a book down before going through it three times.”

 

Julia smiles.

 

“Feeling strangely confident,” she states. “Like I got this. For the first time in my life, I feel I'm exactly where I should be.”

 

The look on Alice's face is telling in that she can't relate. Julia wonders what it would have been like, growing up her whole life with magic, knowing it was real and the possibilities endless. Though, if her childhood was anything like Alice's, the wonder of it all would have faded quickly. Watching your parents use it for a life of leisure and decadence. Losing your brother to it's power.

 

“I've never felt like that,” Alice offers quietly.

Julia purses her lips.

 

“Not even here?”

 

Alice shakes her head.

 

“There's... _Expectation_ here. Like everyone looks at me and assumes I'll just be great. That it all comes naturally because my parents were these grand magicians, even though that's the furthest fucking thing from the truth. My brother taught me more than they ever did. When he died, I had to figure the rest out for myself.”

 

Julia smiles at her.

 

“That's why I like you.”

 

Alice smiles shyly in return, and they hold steady for a beat.

 

“So,” Julia begins wishing to lighten the mood. “Is Margo still sweating you?”

 

Alice flushes quickly and stares into her lap.

 

“Sweating me?” she questions.

 

“Something Q says,” Julia informs. “I mean, with all the flirting she does-”

 

“She's very forward,” Alice interrupts.

 

Julia laughs.

 

“She is definitely that.”

 

Alice sighs.

 

“I don't know,” she begins. “I'm not good with, I mean I've never-”

 

“With a girl?”

 

Alice sighs once more.

 

“That part doesn't matter,” she states. “But someone being interested in me? That's not.” She clears her throat. “I know I'm guarded most of the time, and that usually keeps people away, but...”

 

“But not Margo.”

 

Alice shakes her head again.

 

“You and Quentin,” she starts. “When did you... You were friends first, weren't you?”

 

“Best friends,” Julia confirms.

 

“And one day, you just what? Crossed the line into something else?”

 

“Kind of,” Julia gives. “I mean, it was a little more complicated than that, but if I think about it. Yeah, there was definitely a day it changed.”

 

Alice leans slightly forward, very interested to know.

 

“When?”

 

Julia hesitates in telling a moment, and Alice back peddles not wanting to overstep.

 

“You don't have to tell-”

 

“The day he came back from the hospital,” Julia answers. “He was in a bad place. Really bad. And they said it was for observation, but then... Then they kept him for six months.” She takes a breath, blinking quickly, and trying to push the emotions of the memory down. “The day he got out, I was there, and I promised I always would be.”

 

Alice looks on curiously.

 

“That's when you knew?”

 

Julia shrugs.

 

“I've always known he was like me,” she explains. “But I never thought to question why. Until we came to Brakebills. Turns out it was magic that drew us together. Real life magic. How could you not love someone for that?”

 

 


	2. Party Time

 

Their eyes keep meeting from across the room.

 

Though the party rages on between them, students from all disciplines at Brakebills never passing up on a physical kids shindig, Quentin stays close to the bar with Eliot. Handing him glasses and bottles when asked, but never actually assisting in drink preparation. Julia is huddled among Alice and Kady, all with their own drinks in hand, though Alice has hardly touched hers.

 

Julia smiles at him, offering up her glass in salute, and he matches the gesture easily. Taking another drink, she can't get over how good it is. Bright green and containing six kinds of alcohol. Eliot called it a Mossy Boulder, which sounds about as appetizing as the real thing, to which her suggestion in naming it a Hulk Smash was promptly ignored. Another thing she can't quite get over, is the fact that no one at the party is drinking cheap keg beer poured into red or blue plastic cups, or that Quentin actually looks as if he's having a good time.

 

Quite the opposite with the last party they threw, she playing the part of good hostess making endless circles of the apartment and small talk with anyone and everyone, while he retreated to sitting on the floor looking as if he wanted to be anywhere else.

 

“I swear,” Kady shouts into her ear, though still barely audible over the thumping dance music pouring from the large speakers just a few feet away. “If you keep making goo goo eyes at your lame boyfriend all night, I may actually hurl.”

 

Julia gives her a look of mock horror, before downing the rest of her drink.

 

“He's not lame,” she defends weakly.

 

“Oh honey,” Kady chides, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “Just admit that's your kink, and I'll respect you for it.”

 

Julia laughs before shooting a glance at Alice.

 

“What about you, Al?” she asks. “Any scathing commentary on my choice in partner?”

 

Alice looks over to the bar where Quentin is still glued to Eliot's side.

 

“I think he's sweet,” she offers. “Kind of twitchy. But sweet.”

 

Kady scoffs, before killing off her own drink, and pulling away from Julia.

 

“You nerds deserve each other,” she states dismissively. “Now, I'm gonna find my own partner and-”

 

She clucks her tongue and points a finger gun before departing.

 

“I thought alcohol made people less abrasive,” Alice comments.

 

Julia looks down into her empty glass, has a quick flashback of her father's whiskey fueled shouting sprees, and shakes her head.

 

“Not always.”

 

-

 

Hours later, she's sufficiently drunk, and a little bored after making the rounds a dozen or so times. Alice never came back from Margo practically dragging her onto the dance floor, and Julia hopes whatever was going to happen between the two of them finally did.

 

Quentin is still at his post on the bar, talking to a girl leaning against it with one hand while the other is held firmly in a single crutch, talking animatedly about Leonard Nimoy spoken word albums.

 

“Hey,” she says on approach.

 

“Jules!” he exclaims, clearly not sober himself. “Hey! This is Gretchen. Fellow magician and uber nerd.”

 

Gretchen's nose scrunches at the title, but she laughs good naturedly.

 

“Think I'm partied out,” Julia informs him. “I'm just gonna head up to the room.”

 

“Yeah okay,” Quentin accepts with a nod. “But um, I think I will stay a little while longer. I mean, if that's-”

 

“Of course,” she assures, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Live long and prosper.”

 

She's too inebriated to follow it up with the appropriate hand gesture, fingers failing to align properly, so she leans across the bar to kiss his cheek before making her way upstairs.

 

-

 

Julia inhales sharply, when the door opens however much later, Quentin finally returning to their room. She watches him stumble around in the dark, clearly having had a few more drinks in her absence, as he kicks the shoes off his feet but fails to remove the pants.

 

“Q,” she manages through a yawn. “Just come to bed.”

 

He looks at her a moment, unsure if she'd actually spoken, but manages to comply as he sinks onto one side of the mattress facing her.

 

“Sorry,” he mumbles into the pillow. “Didn't mean to wake you up.”

 

Her hand automatically reaches for his cheek.

 

“It's fine,” she assures, thumb stroking idly. “I'm really proud of you.”

 

She doesn't have to see his face clearly, to know it scrunches up in confusion.

 

“For getting drunk?” he asks.

 

She rolls her eyes, even though he can't see it.

 

“For letting yourself have a good time.”

 

He laughs softly.

 

“I did,” he admits. “I really... I think it's this place.”

 

“The Cottage?”

 

“Kind of. But you know, the school. Brakebills University.” He says the name in a comical revere. “For the first time it feels like I really-”

 

“Belong?”

 

“Yeah,” he drawls out slowly, hand lifting to cover hers. “That.”

 

She smiles to herself.

 

“Me too.”

 

They're quiet a moment, before Quentin shifts in is spot, pulling something out from under him. The book she was reading before finally nodding off.

 

“Were you drunk studying?” he teases, tossing it over himself to the floor.

 

“No,” she denies. “That was one of yours.”

 

“Mm,” he hums. “Which one?”

 

“The Girl Who Told Time.”

 

He chuckles softly.

 

“Of course.”

 

She nudges a little closer to him.

 

“I thought World in the Walls was your favorite,” she questions.

 

“It is.”

 

“Then why was Girl Who Told Time in your bag?”

 

Quentin gives her wrist a little squeeze.

 

“Because it's yours,” he answers.

 

 


	3. Brakebills South

 

“I was a goose!”

 

It's the first thing Quentin says when he sees her, eyes still alight with the sensation. The feeling of being in the air, and how everything seemed to fit just right.

 

“We all were dumb ass,” Penny detracts with a roll of his eyes. “Is everything magic like an amusement park ride to you?”

 

Quentin looks down at his feet, and Julia shoots Penny a scowl, mirrored by Alice who was standing next to Q when she entered the room. He just glares back at the pair, and does a quick assessment of their numbers.

 

“Where's Kady?” he asks.

 

Julia quickly looks away. The reverberation of her assigned partner's utmost truth still shaking her conscious and nerves. How the girl ran off the second her ropes fell off, though Julia didn't give chase, quickly turning to the bird that brought her here. However, she's pretty sure Kady made it down here, seeing her just a moment before the TA whisked a separate faction of students off into the library.

 

“She got placed into a different group,” she answers, then lies. “I don't know why.”

 

Fingernails involuntarily scratch at her wrists, knowing that if the trial had still been going on, the ropes would have remained. Quickly she lifts a hand to brush some hair from Quentin's face, if only to busy them so the itch doesn't persist.

 

“Weird,” Penny comments, but doesn't press.

 

Alice clears her throat, catching Julia's attention as intended, who looks to her with a curious eyebrow arched.

 

“Hey,” she offers shyly. “About Quentin and I's transcendence-”

  
Julia shakes her head, not wanting to know, while Quentin looks on in a panic.

 

“That's between the two of you,” she states. “Whole point of the exercise right?”

 

“Yeah,” Alice agrees. “But it still feels odd. Sharing an absolute truth, yet somehow keeping it from someone else?

 

Julia thinks of Kady.

 

“Sometimes magic is mean.”

 

-

 

Quentin is not asleep when Julia slips into his room, though he looks reluctant for her company, automatically assuming Mayakovsky would frown on such cohabitation. To which she just laughs, and nudges him to make room for her, which he does without further prodding.

 

“I don't think he cares much about anything,” she comments. “Besides magic. Even if it comes off like he hates that too.”

 

She snuggles into Quentin's chest, smiling as his arms wrap around her.

 

“If you hadn't noticed, I've gotten pretty used to sharing a bed with you. Also, it's fucking freezing here.”

 

Quentin chuckles softly.

 

“How is this our lives?” he asks. “I mean, we turned into geese and flew to Antarctica.”

 

Sometimes Julia wonders the same thing. That one day she'll wake up and it will all have been some crazy dream after smoking too much pot, and downing half a bottle of scotch.

 

“Worry not, Martin,” she replies in a bad English accent. “Magic is nothing to be feared if channeled properly.”

 

Quentin kisses the top of her head.

 

“Of course you're right Jane,” comes his reply in an accent just as terrible. “As always.”

 

-

 

Mayakovsky reminds Julia of the Econ 101 professor she had freshman year. Where arrogance and attitude meant as teaching tools, while infuriating and outdated, somehow seem to produce the results they're meant to.

 

Twist is, the Russian madman as other students call him, has no qualms about getting personal. One such incident, after spelling the word 'DICK' with his nails, results in Quentin getting a smack across the face. Julia storms across the hall, quick to assess the damage, and the act is like chum in the water to the shark in the shape of their teacher.

 

“You have got to be kidding,” he bemoans in that thick accent. “You? Her?”

 

Of course neither of them has a voice in which to defend themselves, merely taking his judgment in silence.

 

“Why am I bothering to teach you?” A question aimed at Quentin. “When you already have enough magic in your dick to land girl so clearly out of your league?”

 

An insult hurled within earshot of Alice who, once they get their voices back, tries again to tell Julia of she and Quentin's shared truth.

 

“It was about you,” she insists off Julia's initial rebuff.

 

The statement does give her pause. Because while honestly curious about whatever it was that freed the ropes and led them here, she had assumed it related to Quentin's clinical depression and self doubt, but nothing more.

 

“He knows you love him,” Alice states, with a small hitch in her voice that catches Julia's attention. “But he is always afraid, that the part of his brain refusing to let him believe it, will finally make you realize you are too good for him. That you always were.”

 

Tears quickly well in Julia's eyes.

 

“Yeah,” she sighs gruffly. “Doesn't fucking help that everyone else seems to question it too.”

 

“I don't,” Alice gives softly.

 

Julia smiles.

 

“Thanks, Al.”

 

-

 

“What the hell is this?”

 

Penny comes storming toward her, waving around a piece of paper, with fire in his eyes. Julia stands her ground as he approaches, stopping only to tower over her a moment, then quickly steps back expecting an answer.

 

Julia's eyes shoot down to the piece of paper, then back up to his, head tilted with an unasked question that is glaringly obvious.

 

“It's from Kady,” he clarifies. “Talking about how she's a liar, and a thief. It's why she got separated from us when she got here. Mayakovsky knew something was up with her. She's sorry, but she was just using me, and can't do it anymore.”

 

Julia still isn't sure what any of it has to do with her.

 

“Penny,” she starts. “I don't-”

 

He lifts the note toward her, though it's difficult to read still clenched in his hand, she can see her name in one of the sentences.

 

“She made sure to apologize to you too,” he states flatly. “For airing out her shit and knowing you couldn't say anything about it. Except that...”

 

He pauses a moment.

 

“Except that you could, couldn't you? Part of the challenge was baring ourselves to someone, but nowhere in the text did it say you had to take the truth to your grave. You could have given me a heads up! You could have...” He trails off again.

 

“Hey,” she begins, reaching out a hand, then thinks better of it. “She didn't say anything about using you. Just the part about being a liar. And a thief. That she comes from hedge witches, and part of her will always be ashamed of it. The ropes must have thought that was enough, because she never mentioned you at all.”

 

Penny doesn't say anything off that, just maintains eye contact, though his glare has softened slightly.

 

“What did she steal?” he asks.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Clearly the lying was about being a thief, but what did she steal?”

 

Julia shrugs.

 

“Stuff from Brakebills? Books and spells. For some Hedge named Marina, who has Kady's mother under her boot.”

 

Penny's anger flares up again.

 

“And you didn't say anything?”

 

“It wasn't my truth to tell,” Julia defends.

 

He breathes sharply from his nose.

 

“Then what is?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Your truth,” he goes on. “The one you told to get the ropes off. I'm pretty pissed and vulnerable right now, Julia. But maybe if you... If you told me I'd-”

 

“I'm terrified,” Julia interrupts.

 

“What?”

 

“Of magic,” she continues. “Well, not _of_ magic. I love it, now that I know it's real. Like this wonderful drug that seeped into my veins and I can never let go. I love it so much I'm terrified of who I would be without it.”

 

Penny doesn't fully understand.

 

“My Dad is an alcoholic,” she goes on. “Drunk all day and night. So many stints in rehab, but nothing ever took. Until finally my Mom had him committed to where he'll never get out.”

 

Tears sting her eyes.

 

“That's my truth,” she says, quickly brushing past him. “I'm sorry about Kady.”

 

Penny doesn't call after her as she walks away, and Julia is glad for it.

 

-

 

“If you love him so much,” Mayakovsky chides. “Let him fail.”

 

Quentin is on the floor, passed out from one too many shocks off the electrified rings of the mind control test. Julia looks over her shoulder at the statement, confused as to how being concerned that he just got electrocuted has anything to do with his passing or failing the exercise.

 

“Are you girlfriend or den mother?” Mayakovsky asks. “Kinky either way. But you dote on floppy haired bunny too much. How is he to learn if you are always patting him on the back? Saying good job, little bun bun. Do not worry.”

 

Julia frowns.

 

“I don't-”

 

“You do!” he shouts, then points at the door. “Out!”

 

“What?”

 

“Get out,” he repeats. “Let bunny learn the hard way.”

 

Julia reluctantly leaves, just as Mayakovsky starts pouring vodka on Quentin's face, and casts a backward glance to Alice who nods without hesitation. She'll keep an eye on him now that Julia can't. However, she doesn't go far remaining just out of sight beyond the door frame, and smiles proudly five minutes later when Quentin shouts in triumph on completing the test.

 

-

 

“You should be a fox more often,” Julia murmurs against his chest, as her fingers tease across his ribs.

 

Quentin laughs but doesn't comment, having come in from the cold, practically sniffing her out and taking them straight to his room. It's a wonder she's even awake with all the energy expelled, but feels sated and happy, pressing a small kiss against his skin.

 

“What were you?” he asks. “I mean, your animal.”

 

Julia can still feel the air in her feathers, the sense of direction more focused than the goose form could ever hope to be, talons sharp and ready for whatever prey her magnificent eyes could focus on.

 

“A falcon,” she answers. “Streaking through the sky like I owned it. Like I knew my exact place and purpose within it.”

 

“Sounds amazing.”

 

She hums.

 

“It was. Also, I caught a fish. Spotted it from almost a mile up, then just dove right toward the water and got it.”

 

Quentin's fingers play with her hair.

 

“Thought I tasted sushi on your tongue,” he teases.

 

Julia laughs, but swats at him playfully.

 

“Shut up,” she says.

 

Quentin's hand stops, and she shifts her head to meet his eyes, which are alight with the animal that has yet to fade.

 

“Make me,” he challenges.

 

Then they're kissing again, and going for round number four.

 

-

 

The door in Mayakovsky's office opens to reveal Brakebills on the other side, which Penny files through quickly, followed by Alice. Quentin and Julia are about to step through when Maykovsky stops them both.

 

“There is one more thing I give you,” he says, eyes flicking between them. “Your life's purpose.”

 

They briefly share a look, before turning back to him.

 

“Prove me wrong,” he states, pointing at finger at them with each word uttered. “With your love. Never give a fuck what drunk bastard like me thinks about your relationship. What anyone thinks. Then in fifty years, come back with your perfect family and gloat over my frozen corpse.”

 

Julia takes Quentin's hand, but this just makes Mayakovsky roll his eyes.

 

“Out,” he says, pointing at the door. “Before you make me sick.”

 

Julia smiles at him.

 

“You're an asshole,” she says. “But a really good teacher.”

 

Mayakovsky takes a big dramatic swig off his bottle.

 

“I know.”

 

 


	4. And Further

 

Julia is beginning to wonder, if a former student put a glamour on her favorite spot in the living room, because every time she sits there no one ever seems to see her. Lucky break, when Margo and Alice come rumbling down the stairs, clearly in the middle of an argument.

 

“Alice I'm sorry!” Margo exclaims.

 

They stop in place, and Julia doesn't dare turn her head.

 

“Sorry?” Alice questions. “Indicates regret. Regret being an emotion. A feeling. Which you claim not to do.”

 

“That's not what I-”

 

“What do you mean?” Alice cuts her off. “Because some clarification would be really nice right now. I mean you chased me-”

 

“I did not!”

 

“You flirted with me for months,” she corrects. “Acted like you wanted me, and only me. Now that it finally seems like we're in the same place, you want to what? End it?”

 

Margo huffs in resignation.

 

“I don't know,” she answers softly.

 

It takes a tremendous amount of will power for Julia not to turn her head for a better look.

 

“I told you,” Margo goes on. “I'm not good at this.”

 

Alice gives her no quarter.

 

“Bullshit,” she spits. “You're good enough to get me, but not good enough to keep me?”

 

Margo does not reply to that.

 

“Okay, I'm not good at this either,” Alice concedes a beat later. “But I... I like this. Us.”

 

She sighs.

 

“I don't want it to stop just because you're scared.”

 

Alice doesn't let it go further than that, clomping loudly toward the door, and exiting swiftly. Julia finally turns her head, to see Margo stare at the spot where Alice vacated, before doing an about face and heading back up the stairs.

 

She barely has time to process the scene just witnessed, when Penny blinks into the room with a wide eyed expression.

 

“Hey,” he greets nonchalantly.

 

She gives a little wave.

 

“I...,” he starts, looking around as if he has to make sure he's actually here. “I went somewhere.”

 

“Perks of being a traveler?” Julia wonders aloud.

 

He smirks, but still seems rattled.

 

“It was a castle,” he continues. “A dungeon. There was this girl. She was, I don't know, tied up to this thing.”

 

Penny makes a few manic gestures with his hands, and Julia perks up at his description, concern quick and forthcoming.

 

“Someone, something, was torturing her. I couldn't see him, but I think... I think he saw me.”

 

“What was it?” Julia asks.

 

“I don't know,” he replies, running his hands through his hair and staring at the ground.

 

Julia rises to her feet, reaching out to put a placating hand on his arm.

 

“You're really freaked out.”

 

His head snaps up to her.

 

“You think?”

 

Julia rolls her eyes, but lets it go.

 

“Did you see anything else?” she asks. “Anything that could maybe tells us where you were?”

 

He thinks a moment.

 

“A symbol on the wall,” comes the answer. “It had, uh, two animal heads with horns. Rams I think. And a crown at the top.”

 

Julia's brow furrows, his description sounding so familiar, and when it hits her the realization nearly causes a skip in her heartbeat.

 

“Hold on,” she says, backing away from him.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Hold on!” she repeats, turning to flee the room and up the stairs.

 

Bursting through the door to she and Quentin's room, Julia makes a beeline for the bookshelf, grabbing a copy of The World in the Walls. Flipping briskly through the pages, she finds the picture in mind, matching perfectly to what Penny described. He's still in the living room, when she comes back down the stairs, and holds the open book to him.

 

“Is this what you saw?”

 

His eyes narrow.

 

“Yeah,” he replies. “What is it?”

 

Julia can hardly believe what she's about to say. Can hardly believe it's a possibility. Can hardly wait to tell Quentin.

 

“It's Ember's seal,” she informs. “Penny, I think you were in Fillory.”

 

-

 

The library is where she finally tracks Quentin down, after ten ignored texts, and five unanswered calls, sitting at a table talking to sharply dressed woman. Julia looks at her curiously, the style a very specific kind of retro pretty, complete with shawl and beret. There's something so familiar about her, though Julia isn't sure what, as she approaches without announcing herself.

 

“Jules!” Quentin greets louder than he should considering their surroundings. “Hey! This is Eliza and she... She has a quest for us.”

 

Eliza turns to Julia with a welcoming smile.

 

“A quest?” Julia questions, keeping her eyes on the woman who nods. “Us?”

 

“Indeed,” Eliza assures. “I was just telling Quentin here, I need someone brave and bold, and have been noticing your progress here despite being first years.”

 

Julia tilts her head, somewhat disbelieving, but not entirely distrusting.

 

“I see,” she replies, then looks to Quentin. “Is your phone dead? I kept trying to get a hold of you.”

 

Quentin frowns, reaching into his bag and pulling it out, glancing back up to her with remorse in his eyes. “I'm sorry,” he gives. “I didn't hear it, and Eliza here was spinning a pretty big yarn-”

 

“About what?” Julia asks. “The quest?”

 

“Yeah,” he assures with a nod. “It's kind of epic, actually.”

 

Julia grins despite her reservations, always happy to see the enthusiasm blossom within him.

 

“So is what I had to tell you,” she states, eyes flicking between him and Eliza. “Penny might have... Gone to Fillory.”

 

The smile instantly drops from Quentin's face, shock and disbelief now clouding his features.

 

“What?” he asks softly.

 

Julia throws her hands up, palms open.

 

“I know it sounds crazy-”

 

“Did he see any animals?” Quentin cuts her off. “Did he talk to them?”

 

“I don't think he-”

 

“What about the Watcherwoman? Did he see her? The flying forest-”

 

“Whoa, whoa Q, slow down. He was only there a few seconds. In a castle. A dungeon. Some girl was being tortured, and a monster lurked in the shadows.”

 

Quentin nods, though she can see his mind is still going a mile a minute.

 

“Fillory is real,” he whispers.

 

Julia can't imagine what it feels like. Believing in something so much, despite reality offering a sharp contrast, and having your very sanity questioned only to be proven right. She wants to take him in her arms, runs her fingers through his hair, and somehow share in the elation. But she doesn't, frozen in place, while his world is expanded beyond this one.

 

“Of course it's real,” Eliza chimes in. “That's why I'm here. It is your purpose. Your quest.”

 

Quentin and Julia turn to her in sync.

 

“I want you to help me save it.”

 

-

 

“So what?” Penny asks. “Your kids book bullshit turns out to be real, and we're supposed to go on some epic quest because Lady Chatterly shows up and asks?”

 

Everyone in the room doesn't seem to have an answer for him, not even Eliza with a rebuttal to his comment, or Quentin and Julia who brought them all here. Alice and Margo sit beside each other on one of the couches, Eliot in a chair, while Penny and Eliza stand next to and eye each other warily.

 

“To save Fillory,” Quentin offers.

 

Penny just scowls at him.

 

“What the hell do I care about Fillory?”

 

Julia knows better. Knows he cares far more than he'll ever show.

 

“What about the girl?” she asks. “The one in the dungeon?”

 

Penny looks down doesn't answer.

 

“Yes, yes,” Eliza chimes in. “The girl in the dungeon. The talking animals. All the fair people of the land. In danger, every one.” She looks pointedly at Penny. “From a monster lurking in the shadows we in the know, call the Beast.”

 

“Well that sounds promising,” Margo mutters.

 

Alice nudges her but doesn't offer an opinion of her own.

 

“Why us?” Penny asks.

 

All eyes focus on him.

 

“You have a school full of magicians way more advanced than a handful of first years.”

 

“And second,” Eliot inputs with a finger pointed up, but Penny ignores him.

 

“Besides fanboy over there, It makes no damn sense why you would come to us for this.”

 

Everyone glances at each other in a silent agreement. When stated out loud, it does not add up as to why they of all people would be chosen, let alone succeed in the task at hand. If Eliza is perturbed by the doubt she doesn't show it, offering only a confident smile.

 

“Forgive the vagueness of my reply,” she says. “But it has to be you. All of you. Whether we succeed or perish, it seems fate has chosen its lot.”

 

“No,” Penny rebukes. “Not good enough.”

 

Eliza's smile never wavers.

 

“Why are we even listening to this?” Penny asks the group, then points. “Why should we listen to her?”

 

Julia steps forward then, eyes shifting to her.

 

“Because she's Jane Chatwin.”

 

Both Quentin and Margo gasp at the same time, though it's Margo everyone looks to curiously.

 

“What?” she asks. “I loved those books.”

 

Jane doesn't seem upset at being outed, rather, there's a hint of pride gleaming in her eyes.

 

“Oh Julia,” she sighs. “Always the clever one.”

 

Quentin is flabbergasted, unable to get his words out at the revelation, a million questions he wants to ask but none can push past his lips. Julia reaches back for his hand, turning to him with a placating smile, and just like that he seems to calm.

 

“Yes,” Jane admits to them all. “I am she, and I humbly request your assistance in helping me save the only real home I've ever known. And I won't lie to you, the threat of failure is very real. But if we succeed? What heroes you would be.”

 

Everyone waits for Penny's inevitable denial, but he stays silent.

 

“I will have portal ready tomorrow morning in the library,” Jane informs. “Seven AM sharp. I will take anyone's presence as acceptance of the task before us.”

 

She turns and leaves the cottage without another word, and the debate over whether to go begins.

 

-

 

“How did you know?” Quentin asks. “That she was Jane?”

 

They're sitting upright on the bed, Julia's head resting on his shoulder, with a first edition copy Fillory and Further book one open in his lap.

 

“Halloween,” comes her reply. “Sixth grade.”

 

They'd gone as Jane and Martin to the middle school dance, costumes created from the cover of that magazine about their disappearance. None of their classmates seemed to know who they were supposed to be, not that it mattered. Seeing Eliza in the library with Quentin, she'd thought there was something familiar about the woman, merely off her style alone.

 

Quentin laughs at her reasoning, as she feels a kiss pressed atop her head.

 

“Really?”

 

Julia shrugs.

 

“A woman comes asking us to save Fillory dressed exactly like Jane Chatwin,” she gives. “Who else could she be?”

 

The question of whether or not they would go, not having been or needed to be, asked. A dream is about to come true, despite the nightmare lingering underneath, and nothing in the world is going to keep them from it.

 

-

 

Jane is waiting for them in library, seven sharp just like she said, and Julia is not surprised that no one from the group backed out. She is however, bemused that Alice and Margo showed up hand in hand just like Quentin and herself. Eliot and Penny look as if they know it's a terrible idea, but are coming along for the ride regardless.

 

“Fantastic,” Jane greets everyone with a smile. “I knew you wouldn't let me down.”

 

“Whatever,” Penny detracts. “Let's just do this.”

 

Jane guides everyone over to the grandfather clock that Julia has never known the work, and can feel the excitement radiating from Quentin, his hand squeezing hers so tight as the portal reveals itself.

 

“I love you,” he offers softly.

 

She smiles as they walk toward it.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

 


End file.
